‘Gotham’ casting: Ben McKenzie to star as James Gordon in new Fox show

Actor Ben McKenzie, known for roles in “Southland” and “The O.C.,” has been cast in the lead role of “Gotham,” the upcoming Fox series that centers on the experiences of James Gordon before he became the famous police commissioner and key ally of Batman, according to a release issued by Warner Bros. Television on Saturday.

In addition to exploring Gordon’s younger years, the show will chronicle the origins of many of the villains who have challenged Bruce Wayne’s superhero alter ego.

Bruno Heller, whose credits include the CBS procedural “The Mentalist” and HBO’s epic drama “Rome,” wrote the pilot script and will serve as executive producer. Danny Cannon will direct and executive produce the pilot.

Gordon was most recently brought to life on the big screen by Gary Oldman, who was a key part of the ensemble featured in Christopher Nolan’s brooding Batman trilogy starring Christian Bale.

Oldman confirmed this week that he had been approached about a possible role in J.J. Abrams’ upcoming “Star Wars” film, although no official casting for “Episode VII” has yet been announced.

I don't watch anything that is a part of Rupert Murdoch's Newcorp empire. I gave up the Simpsons in 2004 and I won't even rent movies produced by FOX. I banned FOX from my Google news feeds and I am determined that Rupert Murdoch will never make a dime off of me if I can help it.

Excellent! Ben's such a charismatic and intuitive actor who really brings characters to life. As much as I look forward to all of Ben's upcoming films, I'm really happy that he'll be back on TV and in a lead role. Is this definitely going to series? Better be!